Drama

Among the finest Western-made movies about the East, Bernardo Bertolucci's epic traces the emergence of modern China through the life of one man. After taking on Italian history in The Conformist and 1900, the director was well placed to tackle the story of Pu Yi (played by John Lone as an adult). The narrative proceeds along two tracks: the emperor's post-Forbidden City existence and his cloistered upbringing. Educated by Scotland's Reginald Johnston (Peter O'Toole, in a role slated for Sean Connery), the monarch develops into a sophisticated, if powerless figure.

The idea of pairing two of the hottest contemporary actresses with a Golden Age Hollywood director--in a remake of an old Bette Davis vehicle, no less--makes Rich and Famous a curiosity straddling two ages. Jacqueline Bisset, then at the height of her sex-symbol status, stars with Candice Bergen, who was morphing from glamourpuss to comedienne in the wake of her hilarious Starting Over turn. They play the roles first essayed by Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins in the 1943 Old Acquaintance: Bisset is the serious writer, Bergen the flighty married pal whose trashy novels become bestsellers.

Promote someone else to the rank of lieutenant? Over lago's dead body! And more pointedly, over the dead bodies of nearly everyone ensnared in lago's plot of revenge. Jealousy, passion, misplaced trust: the themes of Shakespeare's towering tragedy permeate this fresh Othello from writer/director Oliver Parker (An Ideal Husband), Kenneth Branagh (Lago), Irene Jacob (Desdemona) and Lawrence Fishburne as the title-role warrior who ruled armies but not his own heart play the principals in this tale set in Renaissance Venice - yet belonging to the ages.

In this surreal comedy, Paul Giamatti plays an actor named...Paul Giamatti. Paul very well might have found the key to happiness for which hes been searching, soul storage. But complications arise when he is the unfortunate victim of "soul trafficking." Balancing a tightrope between deadpan humor and pathos, and reality and fantasy, Cold Souls is a true soul searching comedy.

Magnetic Rob Lowe ('the West Wing ), Oscar nominee Meg Tilly (The Big Chill) and sultry Kim Cattrall (Sex in the City ) star in this sexually charged mystery about a wealthy woman who falls for the wrong man.Olivia (Tilly) seems to have it all: good looks, good breeding and a two-hundred- million dollar fortune. But behind the serene façade of her Easthampton seaside estate, something is missing: passion. Enter Tim (Lowe), the sexy sailing instructor and playboy who's not ashamed of sleeping with his boss insatiable wife (Cattrall) or social climbing for sport.

The sparks between Richard Gere and Diane Lane--so memorable in Unfaithful--smolder again in the sweepingly romantic Nights in Rodanthe. Based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks, the film is unapologetically sentimental, and enjoyable completely on its own terms--a small gem of an escape, complete with storm-tossed coastline. Lane plays Adrienne, a wronged wife whose husband (Christopher Meloni) was a heel, but begs for another chance. She goes to clear her head at a remote North Carolina inn, where the sole occupant is Paul, a doctor, played by Gere, who is battling his own demons.

James Clavell's blockbuster novel of rivalry extortion and murder comes to life in this mesmerizing miniseries set in the high stakes business world of Hong Kong. Ian Dunross (Pierce Brosnan) is named "Tai-Pan" (supreme leader) of the powerful British-East Asiatrading company Struan & Co. just as rival (John Rhys-Davies) attempts a hostile takeover. Suddenly plunged into a criminal uworld of international espionage deception and financial crises Dunross turns up the heat by engaging in a dangerous romance withhis nemesis's aide (Deborah Raffin).

Not even close to his best work, Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou--far from a favorite of Chinese authorities, and frequently harassed and stymied in his career--creates an impressive-looking period piece in this gangland story set in the 1930s. Gong Li (Raise the Red Lantern) gives a colorful performance as a nightclub diva who is the mistress of a mob boss. Told from the point of view of a boy (Wang Xiaoxiao) sent by the gangster to wait on the arrogant singer, the story follows these characters over several days as they flee Shanghai to hide out in the countryside.

Unapologetically audacious, I'm Not There is more post-modern puzzle than by-the-numbers biopic. A title card sets the scene: "Inspired by the music and many lives of Bob Dylan." Yet the film features no figure by that name. Instead, writer/director Todd Haynes presents six characters, each incarnating different stages in the artist's career. Perfume's Ben Whishaw, a black-clad poet, serves as a slippery sort of narrator.

Swaddled in whalebone and wigs, Keira Knightley steps into the restricted world of the Duchess of Devonshire, a royal lady popular with her subjects but stuck in an unhappy marriage. If this situation recalls Princess Diana (a descendent of the Duchess's family), so much the better for the purposes of director Saul Dibb and company; this film is eager to draw parallels with the unfortunate Lady Di, even if she is never directly mentioned.